              APOD: 2017 September 11 - Cassini Approaches Saturn

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                              2017 September 11
                          Cassini Approaches Saturn
  Video Credit & Copyright: Cassini Imaging Team [2] , ISS [3] , JPL [4] , ESA
                  [5] , NASA [6] , S. Van Vuuren [7]  et al.;
             Music: Adagio for Strings [8] (NY Philharmonic [9] )

Explanation: What would it look like to approach Saturn in a spaceship? One
doesn't have to just imagine -- the Cassini spacecraft [10] did just this in
2004, recording thousands of images along the way, and hundreds of thousands
more [11]  since entering orbit. Some of Cassini's early images have been
digitally tweaked, cropped, and compiled into the featured inspiring video
[12] which is part of a larger developing IMAX [13]  movie project named In
Saturn's Rings [14] . In the concluding sequence, Saturn [15] looms
increasingly large on approach as cloudy Titan [16]  swoops below. With Saturn
whirling around [17]  in the background, Cassini is next depicted flying over
Mimas [18] , with large Herschel Crater [19]  clearly visible. Saturn's
majestic rings then take over the show as Cassini crosses Saturn's thin ring
[20]  plane. Dark shadows of the ring appear on Saturn itself [21] . Finally,
the enigmatic ice-geyser moon Enceladus [22]  appears in the distance and then
is approached just as the video clip ends. The Cassini spacecraft [23]
itself, low on fuel, is scheduled to end [24]  on Friday when it will be
directed to approach so close to Saturn that it falls in and melts.

                  Tomorrow's picture: real time eclipse [25]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
< [26] | Archive [27] | Submissions [28] | Index [29] | Search [30] | Calendar
  [31] | RSS [32] | Education [33] | About APOD [34] | Discuss [35] | > [36]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [37] (MTU [38] ) & Jerry Bonnell [39]
                                  (UMCP [40] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [41] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [42]
              A service of: ASD [43]  at NASA [44]  / GSFC [45]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [46]
----------
Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] http://ciclops.org/
  [3]  http://ciclops.org/iss/iss.php
  [4] http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
  [5] http://www.esa.int/
  [6] http://www.nasa.gov/
  [7] http://insaturnsrings.com/contactfilm/
  [8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adagio_for_Strings
  [9] http://nyphil.org/
  [10] http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/overview/
  [11] https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/raw-images
  [12] http://vimeo.com/11386048
  [13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imax
  [14] http://insaturnsrings.com/
  [15] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/Saturn
  [16] ap090505.html
  [17]
https://68.media.tumblr.com/12acf86ba61a04471095cc6ba2c1de78/
tumblr_nrowhptkm41t1cy7no1_500.jpg
  [18] ap141021.html
  [19] ap100511.html
  [20]
http://hubblesite.org/reference_desk/faq/answer.php.id=11&cat=solarsystem
  [21] http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11141
  [22] ap090628.html
  [23] https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/saturn-tour/where-is-cassini-now/
  [24] https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grand-finale/overview/
  [25] ap170912.html
  [26] ap170910.html
  [27] archivepix.html
  [28] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [29] lib/aptree.html
  [30] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [31] calendar/allyears.html
  [32] /apod.rss
  [33] lib/edlinks.html
  [34] lib/about_apod.html
  [35] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=170911
  [36] ap170912.html
  [37] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [38] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [39] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [40] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [41] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [42] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [43] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [44] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [45] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [46] http://www.mtu.edu/
